Hibs’ Head Coach Jack Ross believes that his team have given the fans something to look forward to next season which hopefully will see the return of European football to the capital for an extended period.
Hibs are currently in third place which, depending on who wins the Scottish Cup could see European games beyond Christmas for the first time since the days of Eddie Turnbull and tonight they face Livingston at Easter Road knowing that a victory could go a long way in securing that dream.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference yesterday Ross said: “We have worked incredibly hard to put ourselves in a position to achieve success and now this is a really important part of the season for us and we have to capitalise on that opportunity we have given ourselves.
“We have had a good break from Easter Road which has allowed the pitch to improve a little bit as that was troubling for us in terms of the playing surface but it has had some work on it over the last couple of months since we were last there so we are looking forward to playing on an improved surface which hopefully should help us.
“A lot of our work this season is in recognition of the fact that we have not had fans in, and we have given them something to look forward to next season when hopefully they are allowed back in and if that involves an extended run in Europe then that’s brilliant.
“So there are loads on incentives for us to make sure we finish where we are in the league.
Ross also revealed that there are some doubts over one or two players but he is hopeful of have one back who missed out on Sunday’s win over Stranraer.
He continued; “Chris Cadden should be involved, although he is one of the ones we have doubts over. He was due to start on Sunday but suffered a knock in training on Saturday morning.
“We have one or two other concerns from Sunday and we will assess them on the day of the game.
“Other than that, Jamie Murphy will still be absent. Sean Mackie is still absent but Steven Bradley is back in the squad.”
Alex Gogic added: “It’s a race to the finish line now. After the split everyone knows it’s just a final push and about trying to get as many wins as we can. Obviously you want to win and then you always have a look (at Aberdeen’s result) and I’m sure they will do the same.
“We focus on ourselves but if they do drop points then you enjoy it even more.”
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
